Write Club: Fiction Personality Tests

Hey y'all.  So as a fan of Starcraft, some years ago I created a personality test to determine what sort of person someone was when they told me their favorite Starcraft characters.  I refined the test after the first few attempts, so I ended up with this as my final request for information.

Favorite race
Most hated race (say none if you don't hate any)
Three favorite characters
Three least favorite characters

I also requested that if they didn't hate or really like three characters, then to only put two when that's the case.  This test hinges on people's real opinions, and having them shove in an extra character or leave out one that they really like skews the results.  Also, everyone has a favorite race, or otherwise they're probably not a big enough fan to have a favorite, and thus the analysis wouldn't have a point.

Why am I telling you about this?  Because I think it's something that anyone who is either psychologically inclined or literature-minded can do, provided they know enough about the universe in question -- which in this case is Starcraft.  Other universes can be used instead, so long as they're deep enough and you're familiar enough with the characters in them.

What I like about the Starcraft universe is that every character is deeply flawed in some way, so people automatically reveal their insecurities by telling me their favorites.  Hee hee...

Nitpickery: Volition Agent

Hey y'all.  So I got in a free book on a facebook contest.  It's called Volition Agent.

I call it terrible.

Me and Aldaris (31): Stayover in Korea

Lee Cheonha poked her finger through the open wire door of the hamster cage.  She gently pushed in a small sunflower seed, slowly offering the gift to the small, bewiskered critter inside.  Pappa had been through all this before.  He knew what it meant to smell the scent of his new owner, and he hauled his pleasantly plump self through the pine bedding to go get his treat.  He didn't so much as shudder when one of Cheonha's fingers rubbed his soft little ears.

"Good boy, Pappa," Cheonha giggled.  "You are a very good hamster.  I will bring you carrots when I get home from work tonight."

"You feed that thing too much, Cheonha.  You're going to spoil it.  Besides, I thought we were meeting to do our english homework."

Nitpickery: Rurouni Kenshin

Hey y'all.  So I was working some overnights in my bookstore to shift the shelves around, and we'd have lunch breaks (where I work we always call food breaks "lunch"), and we'd bought in some manga.  Now, I want to like Japanese comics, but the trouble is, many of them are just so dang weird and some outright demented.  That, and I'm not interested in looking at panty shots or girls with boobs too big to walk straight. Seriously, Japan, what's up with that?  Well, not that American comics are much better in that regard, but at least our superhero sluts are in proportion, and also of legal age.

Whatever, that's a debate I'll leave for another day.  I'll just say for now that the only manga I've really cared for to this point is Azumanga Daioh, Yotsuba to, Hollow Fields, and Sarasah.  Thing is, one of those is written by a European, two are by the same guy, and the last is Korean manhwa.  It's kinda hard to recommend a manga when that's my entire knowledge of the genre.  Well, I've seen the Lucky Star anime, but that was boring.

So anyway, during one of my lunch breaks, I picked up Fushigi Yuugi.  Well, too much rape, nudity, and mysticism meant that it was a no.  Seriously, Japan, nudity with school age girls?  Okay, fine, I'll stop blaming a whole country for one artist's perversion.  Moving on...

What did I try next?  Rurouni Kenshin, by Nobuhiro Watsuki!

Nitpickery: How Much for Just the Planet?

Hey y'all.  So I'm finally posting a Nitpickery that isn't about Starcraft!  Yay!

Me and Aldaris (p30): Discussing Zeratul

There's nothing quite like fear cleaning.  Sure, I was supposed to be at home, finishing my tax homework, but instead I'm trapped in a house I don't know, with a hell-angry Protoss outside.  Seriously, Aldaris wasn't this mad when he found out Zeratul was the one who gave the Overmind Aiur's secret location.  I'm kinda scared to step out of the door.  Thankfully, Aldaris hasn't zapped my brain or something, but he could at any moment.  Being afraid is horrible in a stranger's house, and worse still when you're just sitting there in a dark living room hoping nothing's going to happen.

Well, I didn't have my tax homework, but fortunately for my sense of needing to do something, there was a funny smell coming from the kitchen.  I took my shivering little self over that direction, and peered into the sink.  Huh.  Someone had obviously been here -- all the dirty dishes, instead of layering the counters, now hung out in the sink.

"Eh," I said outloud, because talking to oneself doesn't make a person insane at all.  "I guess I'm not too grossed out to do a stranger's dishes.  I did work in a restaurant once.  Ugh...." I reached in the other side of the double sink and plugged it up.  "Better think of something else before the scarring flashbacks happen again."

So I did the dishes.  Still too nervous to try and reach out with my mind to see what's going on with Aldaris (assuming I can), I decided to wipe the counters and the stove.  The floor needed a mopping, so I went ahead and did that.  I went ahead and vacuumed the whole living room, while I was at it.  Best yet, there were some scented candles in the closet to lay out and get rid of that dank smell that had taken over the house.  After those were lit and the place started smelling like a field of chemical flowers, I stood there and looked around.

"Huh....I wonder if dude has any paper."

There was some in a drawer in the kitchen, and a plastic cup on the counter had some pens in it.  Thus equipped with the tools of my trade, I went into the dining room and began to write.

Stuff will happen! I Swear!

Hey y'all.  Sorry for the lack of posting.

Alright, so this blog has always been sort of scatterbrained, with reviews, rantings and attempts at stories.  I never at any time had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with it, besides it having something to do with writing.  However, real life happens.  I have two things I want to get published, but work on them has been slow because of real life happenings.  I had school, and for the past week and a half I've been working overnight at my bookstore so that we can rearrange stuff away from the sub-lease.  Also, I need to get a better job, and my sister has been weighing very heavily on us for babysitting when she's at work.  I want to learn a language, and I've got to do something profitable with my sewing machine.

Basically, I'd really like to make more choices for my life, rather than have everyone take up time I want to use elsewhere.  It's not like Blogger's all that profitable if you don't post funny cats or messed up cakes, and particularly if one is not on youtube.  That doesn't mean that this isn't a commitment of some kind.  I want to post stuff, as seeing the number of views on my posts makes me happy, even if they're not large enough to garner me a lot through advertising.

What I'm basically trying to say is that I want to have a schedule.  If for no other reason than to please myself, I want a sense of consistency to what I do.  So, a really basic schedule is going to happen: I'll post something every Saturday.  It can be anything from a book review to another Me and Aldaris entry, but it'll be something.

For this next Saturday, I plan to post a M+A.  I've already started on it, but waiting until next Saturday to post will mean I can take some time to work on the blog after that.  I have some ideas for it, but I make no commitment as to what gets posted when.  So often my attentions go everywhere, so there's no way to know which blog I'll finish first.

In any case, thanks for reading.